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Paizo Employee Creative Director

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xavier c wrote:
Besides the gods taken from world real religion are some of the made up gods inspired by world real religion? Like Iomedae's temples look like catholic cathedrals. And Sarenrae you said was inspired by Eilistraee but i do get some jesus from her to.

In certain ways, yes. The two elements you mention are certainly in there. There's a lot of Ihstar spread out between Desna and Sarenrae also. And the Clive Barker influence on Zon-Kuthon should be obvious, but the Ramsey Campbell and Robert Chambers influence on Norgorbor might not be...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Kalindlara wrote:

Did Wes actually develop Carrion Crown? Like, the way you did on the first six, and have generally been sharing with Rob since then?

If so, can you make him do another one? I loved Carrion Crown!

Wes outlined Carrion Crown. I developed the first adventure. Rob developed the rest of the adventures.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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And let's PLEASE stick to questions for me in this thread. This isn't the place to have discussions with each other, ESPECIALLY if they're fundamentally not appropriate for this site.

Flag and move on.

Thanks all!

Back to questions please!

Radiant Oath

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

Sorry for raising that spectre. :(

I'll ask about kittens, what kittens are cutest in your opinion?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Justin Sluder wrote:
How are you feeling? Better, I hope.

I was indeed feeling a little better. Certain comments in this thread undead most of that though, alas. Which is why I'm hoping to get more questions here ASAP. And/or taking a break for a bit from the thread.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Archpaladin Zousha wrote:
I'll ask about kittens, what kittens are cutest in your opinion?

All kittens!

Silver Crusade Contributor

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James Jacobs wrote:
xavier c wrote:
Besides the gods taken from world real religion are some of the made up gods inspired by world real religion? Like Iomedae's temples look like catholic cathedrals. And Sarenrae you said was inspired by Eilistraee but i do get some jesus from her to.
In certain ways, yes. The two elements you mention are certainly in there. There's a lot of Ihstar spread out between Desna and Sarenrae also. And the Clive Barker influence on Zon-Kuthon should be obvious, but the Ramsey Campbell and Robert Chambers influence on Norgorbor might not be...

Sorrysorrysorry. :(

Can you tell me more about Norgorber's origins? (Is it safe?) I've been doing a subplot where he was involved in the creation of a (or possibly all) vishkanya. Any more info you can give would be great!

Also: how do you think he feels about rakshasa?

On that note, have you placed the vishkanya race in Golarion at all? Beyond an off-the-cuff "southern Tian Xia" or something, I mean.

Silver Crusade Contributor

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Can you give me your take on Adivion Adrissant? Other than the art debacle.

What do you think of his persona (Adivion Adrissant is better than you). Is there anything you would do with him if you ran that Path? (I've got plans to tie him to Runelord Xanderghul.)

Silver Crusade Contributor

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What do you think of writing in a redemption arc for Queen Ileosa? Do you think it's a bad idea?

Silver Crusade Contributor

Easivra is listed as a forgotten deity, rather than dead.

Any plans for his return?

Could the rediscovery of the Morrowfall hasten that if there aren't?

Were the sabosan of the Jaytirian Society his only followers?

Given its origins with Vyriavaxus, would Nocticula expend any significant effort to acquire the Totemrix?

Silver Crusade Contributor

Am I asking too many questions? Trying to put things behind us... sorry. :(

Silver Crusade Contributor

Who came up with Urgathoa, especially her appearance?

What's she like when she contacts worshippers? PF #8 paints her as a bit spiteful. I've been playing her not unlike some of the Daedra of Skyrim, using mortals for her amusement (I have a PC cleric in my Carrion Crown group). Or is she, as Clinton Boomer put it, just Underly Attached?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Kalindlara wrote:

Can you tell me more about Norgorber's origins? (Is it safe?) I've been doing a subplot where he was involved in the creation of a (or possibly all) vishkanya. Any more info you can give would be great!

Also: how do you think he feels about rakshasa?

On that note, have you placed the vishkanya race in Golarion at all? Beyond an off-the-cuff "southern Tian Xia" or something, I mean.

Norgorber's from my homebrew setting. I made him up back in the late 80s and early 90s, and have been adjusting and developing him on and off ever since. He was originally inspired most by the stories of Fritz Leiber, as a god of thieves, but after I started reading more Ramsey Campbell, particularly his novel "The Face that Must Die," the idea of giving Norgorber and some other deities a serial killer edge grew. There's actually several subservient deities who serve Norgorber in my homebrew, and they all kinda got rolled into one for Golarion. Robert Chambers, who's most famous these days for his Yellow Sign and Carcosa and King in Yellow stuff, also inspired a lot. He has a story called "The Repairer of Reputations" after all!

At this point, Inner Sea Gods has the Golarion definitive info about him, but there's some more tidbits on the way during Hell's Rebels later in the year.

I think he sees rakshasa as fools. They sometimes work with his followers nonetheless.

The vishkanya are in Vudra in southern Casmaron.


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Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

1) If you were presented with the opportunity to mentally travel to any point of time your body existed in, effectively displacing your self of that time, but it was a one-way trip (and going into the future would effectively put you into a coma), would you accept the opportunity, or not? If so, how far back?

2) If you were given a magical item that could kill without a trace up to three people, but after which it would vanish from your possession and be given to someone else, with the addendum that if you don't use all three uses, it will remain with you until your death, would you use it?

3) If, after your death, an entity offered you the opportunity to be reincarnated into a fantasy world with all your memories intact, or to pass on to your natural fate in whatever lies ahead (you don't know for sure what that is), would you accept, or choose to move on to whatever comes next?

Dark Archive

Have you watched Unidentified? It's available on Netflix.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Kalindlara wrote:

Can you give me your take on Adivion Adrissant? Other than the art debacle.

What do you think of his persona (Adivion Adrissant is better than you). Is there anything you would do with him if you ran that Path? (I've got plans to tie him to Runelord Xanderghul.)

I don't really have a take on him, actually; beyond the first volume of Carrion Crown, which I developed, I haven't had much to do with the rest of the adventures in there (although I did write most of the back matter for the fourth volume). Rob and Wes are better folks to chat to about him. I'm unfamiliar enough with him that I had to google the name to remind myself who he was, in fact... ;)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Kalindlara wrote:
What do you think of writing in a redemption arc for Queen Ileosa? Do you think it's a bad idea?

She's not really intended to be a redeemable villain. ANY villain can have that story engineered for him/her, of course... but I really actually quite like that one of our most famous villains is a bard, and I think she's a lot less interesting as a good gal. Furthermore... there IS a redemption storyline in Crimson Throne that's closely tied to Ileosa, and having her be redeemed steals the thunder from that other story.

SO... yeah. I think it's a bad idea.

Dark Archive

Netflix followup. Are you tearing through things being removed tomorrow?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Kalindlara wrote:

Easivra is listed as a forgotten deity, rather than dead.

Any plans for his return?

Could the rediscovery of the Morrowfall hasten that if there aren't?

Were the sabosan of the Jaytirian Society his only followers?

Given its origins with Vyriavaxus, would Nocticula expend any significant effort to acquire the Totemrix?

No plans. This is a case of "The story's stronger if he stays forgotten" in my opinion.

They could if you want to tell that story, I guess.

Unrevealed.

Nah. She's done what she needed to do. She's not SUPER interested in the Totemrix, but if someone got it and gave it to her, she might be pleased enough to give out a reward.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Kalindlara wrote:

Who came up with Urgathoa, especially her appearance?

What's she like when she contacts worshippers? PF #8 paints her as a bit spiteful. I've been playing her not unlike some of the Daedra of Skyrim, using mortals for her amusement (I have a PC cleric in my Carrion Crown group). Or is she, as Clinton Boomer put it, just Underly Attached?

Urgathoa is pretty much 100% me. She's another from my homebrew setting. I can't remember where I came up with the idea for her appearance... but suffice to say, the way we've illustrated her so far is pretty tame compared to the way I've always imagined her...

She is indeed spiteful. Again, Inner Sea Gods is the best place to get up-to-date info on her and her cult. Using the Daedra as inspiration is not a bad choice... but she DOES have a bit more interest in mortals than most of the Daedra.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Justin Sluder wrote:
Netflix followup. Are you tearing through things being removed tomorrow?

Nope.

I've a physical disk queue of 247 movies, and a streaming one of 126 currently. I've got WAY more movies and shows to watch than I'll ever be able to watch, so when some get taken off... no big deal to me. There's always more coming ON, plus also Amazon Prime.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Justin Sluder wrote:
Have you watched Unidentified? It's available on Netflix.

Yup; it was pretty fun. Liked it!

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Luthorne wrote:

1) If you were presented with the opportunity to mentally travel to any point of time your body existed in, effectively displacing your self of that time, but it was a one-way trip (and going into the future would effectively put you into a coma), would you accept the opportunity, or not? If so, how far back?

2) If you were given a magical item that could kill without a trace up to three people, but after which it would vanish from your possession and be given to someone else, with the addendum that if you don't use all three uses, it will remain with you until your death, would you use it?

3) If, after your death, an entity offered you the opportunity to be reincarnated into a fantasy world with all your memories intact, or to pass on to your natural fate in whatever lies ahead (you don't know for sure what that is), would you accept, or choose to move on to whatever comes next?

1) If I kept my memories of how things worked out today? I suspect I probably would. That might end up making Paizo into a VERY different company though...

2) I would not use it.

3) I'd accpet the fantasy world with the memories intact. Since that kinda sounds what I'd like whatever life after death to be anyway.

Silver Crusade Contributor

James Jacobs wrote:
Kalindlara wrote:

Who came up with Urgathoa, especially her appearance?

What's she like when she contacts worshippers? PF #8 paints her as a bit spiteful. I've been playing her not unlike some of the Daedra of Skyrim, using mortals for her amusement (I have a PC cleric in my Carrion Crown group). Or is she, as Clinton Boomer put it, just Underly Attached?

Urgathoa is pretty much 100% me. She's another from my homebrew setting. I can't remember where I came up with the idea for her appearance... but suffice to say, the way we've illustrated her so far is pretty tame compared to the way I've always imagined her...

She is indeed spiteful. Again, Inner Sea Gods is the best place to get up-to-date info on her and her cult. Using the Daedra as inspiration is not a bad choice... but she DOES have a bit more interest in mortals than most of the Daedra.

I've devoured every deity article so far, and I'm looking forward to owning ISG. I've only consulted a friend's copy.

Will we ever get to see anything in that... vein... either in illustrations or in description? The two major sites of worship I can recall* weren't exactly sensuous, but that probably says more about the worshippers than the goddess. Does she go for the seductive, or is it more of a brazen over-the-top thing? Asking for a friend. :)

*The Plague Hospital and Renchurch, specifically.

Webstore Gninja Minion

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Removed some unnecessary posts. Keep it civil, and let's avoid baiting questions.


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I was reading up on Pencak Silat (wikipedia link) for curiosity, and noticed the origin myth is that a woman named Rama Sukana learned to imitate animals fighting each other and taught the moves she learned to her husband and spread from there.

Makes me wonder if there isn't or couldn't be, some sort of origin myth for the various style feats like that of Pencat Silat in Golarion. Or even origin myths for the first Dervish Dancer or something.

1) Are there any origin myths for martial arts or feats or anything like that in Golarion?

2) Do you think a myth like the above adds to, or subtracts, from campaign setting?

3) Would you want one of your past characters to be the origin of a myth in a future game you played?

4) I know that much of Varisia and Golarion is directly drawn from your own campaign setting, but are there any myths for Golarion that were created by one of your own characters?

5) If so, which ones?


What would be a funnier name for an arena/stadium in Vyre than just "Vyre Stadium?"

I'm asking because my football manager game has gotten a bit old, so I've started to replace the real-world stuff with fantasy places, beginning with turning Sweden to Avistan (Garund will be Norway, and Tian Xia Denmark).


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What sports are popular in Golarion? There are gods of competition (Kurgess) I believe, but I have limited knowledge of the world.

I imagine there are races, fighting, and jousting. Are there ball sports? Is use of magic in sports controversial for some or all? Are there magical competitions or monstrous ones (cockatrice fighting rings, etc.)?


What possible change that you guys considered making in the transition from 3.5 to Pathfinder to you most regret not pulling the trigger on?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Kalindlara wrote:

I've devoured every deity article so far, and I'm looking forward to owning ISG. I've only consulted a friend's copy.

Will we ever get to see anything in that... vein... either in illustrations or in description? The two major sites of worship I can recall* weren't exactly sensuous, but that probably says more about the worshippers than the goddess. Does she go for the seductive, or is it more of a brazen over-the-top thing? Asking for a friend. :)

*The Plague Hospital and Renchurch, specifically.

Not from Paizo. The current illustrations of Urgathoa are pretty awesome, I think. Just not as gory as they could be in my head-canon, is all. Not sexy, so much as violent. So... yeah, over the top, not seductive.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Tels wrote:

I was reading up on Pencak Silat (wikipedia link) for curiosity, and noticed the origin myth is that a woman named Rama Sukana learned to imitate animals fighting each other and taught the moves she learned to her husband and spread from there.

Makes me wonder if there isn't or couldn't be, some sort of origin myth for the various style feats like that of Pencat Silat in Golarion. Or even origin myths for the first Dervish Dancer or something.

1) Are there any origin myths for martial arts or feats or anything like that in Golarion?

2) Do you think a myth like the above adds to, or subtracts, from campaign setting?

3) Would you want one of your past characters to be the origin of a myth in a future game you played?

4) I know that much of Varisia and Golarion is directly drawn from your own campaign setting, but are there any myths for Golarion that were created by one of your own characters?

5) If so, which ones?

1) I suspect so, although it's not something we've put much in print about as far as I know.

2) Myths ALWAYS add to a setting.

3) Sure!

4) Not really. My players DID create myths in my game. One of them even became a deity. But I've pretty much kept that out of print, more or less.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Kajehase wrote:

What would be a funnier name for an arena/stadium in Vyre than just "Vyre Stadium?"

I'm asking because my football manager game has gotten a bit old, so I've started to replace the real-world stuff with fantasy places, beginning with turning Sweden to Avistan (Garund will be Norway, and Tian Xia Denmark).

Well.. huh. I'm not sure I get the joke behind "Vyre Stadium" first of all... we WILL have more to say on Vyre soon though.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Rabbiteconomist wrote:

What sports are popular in Golarion? There are gods of competition (Kurgess) I believe, but I have limited knowledge of the world.

I imagine there are races, fighting, and jousting. Are there ball sports? Is use of magic in sports controversial for some or all? Are there magical competitions or monstrous ones (cockatrice fighting rings, etc.)?

Anything that doesn't look anachronistic has a chance of being popular. Not much football or baseball. Gladitorial battles and marathons and jousting and Olympics style competitions are probably the most widespread. Not a lot of ball sports. Whether or not magic is controversial depends on the rules, but there are certainly plenty of sports that allow it.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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RDM42 wrote:
What possible change that you guys considered making in the transition from 3.5 to Pathfinder to you most regret not pulling the trigger on?

Don't really have one overwhelming regret, really, and I'm not gonna reveal the ones I do regret, since they're parts that folks really like (both at Paizo and among the customers), and I'd rather rave about the significant parts of the world I love than rant about the few parts I wish we'd done differently.


James Jacobs wrote:
Kajehase wrote:

What would be a funnier name for an arena/stadium in Vyre than just "Vyre Stadium?"

I'm asking because my football manager game has gotten a bit old, so I've started to replace the real-world stuff with fantasy places, beginning with turning Sweden to Avistan (Garund will be Norway, and Tian Xia Denmark).

Well.. huh. I'm not sure I get the joke behind "Vyre Stadium" first of all... we WILL have more to say on Vyre soon though.

I meant funnier as in "less obvious/boring." But yay for more Vyre information. (Also, depending on your definition of Football, it'd be not at all out of place in Golarion. You might get some of it if you do a search for "the Florentine Game" or Calcio Tradizionale (or however you say traditional in Italian)).

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Kajehase wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Kajehase wrote:

What would be a funnier name for an arena/stadium in Vyre than just "Vyre Stadium?"

I'm asking because my football manager game has gotten a bit old, so I've started to replace the real-world stuff with fantasy places, beginning with turning Sweden to Avistan (Garund will be Norway, and Tian Xia Denmark).

Well.. huh. I'm not sure I get the joke behind "Vyre Stadium" first of all... we WILL have more to say on Vyre soon though.
I meant funnier as in "less obvious/boring." But yay for more Vyre information. (Also, depending on your definition of Football, it'd be not at all out of place in Golarion. You might get some of it if you do a search for "the Florentine Game" or Calcio Tradizionale (or however you say traditional in Italian)).

Don't forget about blood pig!


Hello James, I hope the day finds you well! Some Shackles related questions today.

1) In your opinion, would the Shackles be considered a success of what the real golden age pirates were attempting (and ultimately failed) in the Caribbean? That is, building their own sovereign nation.

2) A nation of pirates seems sort of paradoxical. How can a den of chaos forge a working civilization? What prevents the pirates from preying on one another to the point of obliteration? In Skull and Shackles the heroes manage to kickstart their own pirate career once they get their own boat, but what keeps them from quickly being destroyed by one of the local pirate lords? Is there a sort of unspoken honor amongst thieves feeling here? Or would it be more appropriate that they're not truly 'pirates' to their own countrymen and function similar to the River Kingdoms?

3) Why would merchant ships bother trying to bring trade through the Shackles Region? The only significant country that would benefit from the maritime travel/trade would be Sargava to the south, but they already have a contract with the Shackles pirates for protection from Cheliax. Presumably any ships that would bring Sargava supplies would be extended protection from the pirates as well?

4) Are the Kuru and the Blood Queen plot something you would be interested in seeing built upon further? I had plans for an after AP Skull and Shackles series of adventures dealing with a Kuru 'invasion' which would eventually pit the PCs against the Blood Queen in her lair on the Cannibal Isles.

5) Are the Kuru humans? They're offered as a 0 HD race in the Isles of the Shackles book and have their own racial stats and modifiers, but in artwork they appear to be just savage humans. Would you say the influence of the Blood Queen lead to their automatic stat allocation?

6) The fall of Ghol-Gan deals with a sudden shift from sun/moon worship to dark sacrifice and cannibalism and envoys from beyond the stars? Obviously it's not been stated in print and I don't imagine you have an explicit answer available to you, but the entire situation reeks of either Elder Gods or Dominion of the Black. Would you say this is close to the right course?

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, as always!


James Jacobs wrote:
Kajehase wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Kajehase wrote:

What would be a funnier name for an arena/stadium in Vyre than just "Vyre Stadium?"

I'm asking because my football manager game has gotten a bit old, so I've started to replace the real-world stuff with fantasy places, beginning with turning Sweden to Avistan (Garund will be Norway, and Tian Xia Denmark).

Well.. huh. I'm not sure I get the joke behind "Vyre Stadium" first of all... we WILL have more to say on Vyre soon though.
I meant funnier as in "less obvious/boring." But yay for more Vyre information. (Also, depending on your definition of Football, it'd be not at all out of place in Golarion. You might get some of it if you do a search for "the Florentine Game" or Calcio Tradizionale (or however you say traditional in Italian)).
Don't forget about blood pig!

In all honesty, change the ball to a pig and that's what the Florentine Game looks like.


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Which of the following sets of movies or TV series best portrays how easy it is to meet life from other planets in the Golarion universe? (One could debate any individual assignment to the group but I'm hoping the entire set is portrayed accurately on average.)

(a) Star Trek, Star Wars, Men In Black, Titan A.E., the Riddick universe (just about every planet has some kind of life on it and most spacefaring races get around a lot, some weak and primitive, others so advanced it's scary)

(b) Fifth Element, Enemy Mine, Ender's Game, Starship Troopers, Alien series, Prometheus, Predator series, Explorers (there are not a whole lot of life-bearing planets, much less spacefaring forms of life, not many that are really advanced period--typically only one or two alien civilizations capable of challenging the human race for dominance)

(c) Contact, 2001 & 2010, K-PAX, Knowing (there might be non-Earth life out there but it's extremely difficult to find another civilization that's not so beyond us as to be godlike; they're just too far to reach or too aloof to really want to deal with humans except on their own terms)

(d) Pandorum, Lost in Space, Battlestar Galactica miniseries(who knows if alien life exists at all ...we've looked and just haven't find any)

Note: I tried to avoid citing otherwise interesting movies like Independence Day, Alien Nation, District 9, or The Last Starfighter, where the entire exposition of the story takes place without a human being getting a real chance to explore 'what's out there' in terms of inhabited planets...notable exceptions being revelations from the aliens themselves (if any). One can only work with whatever evidence is given in the film/series.

To be honest I suspect the likelihood of each to descend in order as above but I thought I'd bring it up anyways.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

1) So what is in setting reason why unseen Pathfinder Tiamat is CE? I mean, we don't know really anything about her besides that dragons fear her, she is embodiment of chaos and she protects her children. Is it the embodiment of chaos part?

2) What is the "Shadows under Sandpoint" campaign of yours I keep hearing about in few of the books?


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Erm, mister Rex-T sir, when be Free RPG Day 2000&15?


Morning James,

I'm behind on my reading and just started Valley of the Brain Collectors. I'm getting kind of a Keep on the Borderlands feel. (Valley with caves filled with encounters that get tougher as you go deeper). Is that intentional?

If so, I loved the homage. If not, maybe I just love Keep so much I see it everywhere. :-)

Either way, Valley of the Brain Collectors is great!

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Nargemn wrote:

Hello James, I hope the day finds you well! Some Shackles related questions today.

1) In your opinion, would the Shackles be considered a success of what the real golden age pirates were attempting (and ultimately failed) in the Caribbean? That is, building their own sovereign nation.

2) A nation of pirates seems sort of paradoxical. How can a den of chaos forge a working civilization? What prevents the pirates from preying on one another to the point of obliteration? In Skull and Shackles the heroes manage to kickstart their own pirate career once they get their own boat, but what keeps them from quickly being destroyed by one of the local pirate lords? Is there a sort of unspoken honor amongst thieves feeling here? Or would it be more appropriate that they're not truly 'pirates' to their own countrymen and function similar to the River Kingdoms?

3) Why would merchant ships bother trying to bring trade through the Shackles Region? The only significant country that would benefit from the maritime travel/trade would be Sargava to the south, but they already have a contract with the Shackles pirates for protection from Cheliax. Presumably any ships that would bring Sargava supplies would be extended protection from the pirates as well?

4) Are the Kuru and the Blood Queen plot something you would be interested in seeing built upon further? I had plans for an after AP Skull and Shackles series of adventures dealing with a Kuru 'invasion' which would eventually pit the PCs against the Blood Queen in her lair on the Cannibal Isles.

5) Are the Kuru humans? They're offered as a 0 HD race in the Isles of the Shackles book and have their own racial stats and modifiers, but in artwork they appear to be just savage humans. Would you say the influence of the Blood Queen lead to their automatic stat allocation?

6) The fall of Ghol-Gan deals with a sudden shift from sun/moon worship to dark sacrifice and cannibalism and envoys from beyond the stars? Obviously it's not been stated in print and I don't imagine you have an explicit answer available to you, but the entire situation reeks of either Elder Gods or Dominion of the Black. Would you say this is close to the right course?

1) Yes. Or, if not a success... then "success-adjacent."

2) What we've presented in Skull & Shackles and its support books is our attempt to address the paradox of a nation of pirates. Not sure what else I can say in a post here that wasn't already covered in those hundreds of pages... :P

3) They'd bring trade because doing so might allow them some safety in plying nearby waters—an agreement of "We'll bring you food at a discount if you don't attack us" or the like. Some ships might be tricked into trading. Others might be actual pirates who moonlight as traders. But the most of the traders are trying to sail AROUND the shackles south to reach Mwangi or Sargava or ports further south off the map, and do their best to avoid the Shackles. Cause, pirates.

4) We might do more with the Kuru in the future, but have no immediate plans for them.

5) They're a subset of humans; they have their own abilities after being supernaturally influenced, though. I guess you could say they're a subspecies of humanity. They have 0 hit dice, but thematically they're not really appropriate for PCs.

6) Either that, or qlippoth or demon worship. Maybe daemon worship. Or perhaps something else entirely. ;-)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Kajehase wrote:


In all honesty, change the ball to a pig and that's what the Florentine Game looks like.

And since I really doubt those crazy rooftoppers are creative and cunning enough to come up with rules for a game like that all on their own... they must have based the rules on SOMETHING in world, yes?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Matthew Shelton wrote:

Which of the following sets of movies or TV series best portrays how easy it is to meet life from other planets in the Golarion universe? (One could debate any individual assignment to the group but I'm hoping the entire set is portrayed accurately on average.)

(a) Star Trek, Star Wars, Men In Black, Titan A.E., the Riddick universe (just about every planet has some kind of life on it and most spacefaring races get around a lot, some weak and primitive, others so advanced it's scary)

(b) Fifth Element, Enemy Mine, Ender's Game, Starship Troopers, Alien series, Prometheus, Predator series, Explorers (there are not a whole lot of life-bearing planets, much less spacefaring forms of life, not many that are really advanced period--typically only one or two alien civilizations capable of challenging the human race for dominance)

(c) Contact, 2001 & 2010, K-PAX, Knowing (there might be non-Earth life out there but it's extremely difficult to find another civilization that's not so beyond us as to be godlike; they're just too far to reach or too aloof to really want to deal with humans except on their own terms)

(d) Pandorum, Lost in Space, Battlestar Galactica miniseries(who knows if alien life exists at all ...we've looked and just haven't find any)

Note: I tried to avoid citing otherwise interesting movies like Independence Day, Alien Nation, District 9, or The Last Starfighter, where the entire exposition of the story takes place without a human being getting a real chance to explore 'what's out there' in terms of inhabited planets...notable exceptions being revelations from the aliens themselves (if any). One can only work with whatever evidence is given in the film/series.

To be honest I suspect the likelihood of each to descend in order as above but I thought I'd bring it up anyways.

Since some of those aliens live among the day-to-day folks (elves)... and since there's things like moonflowers and intellect devourers and androids and akatas and shantaks and mi-go and more all over... it's pretty much (a). Even though the average person on the street in-world might not realize it.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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CorvusMask wrote:

1) So what is in setting reason why unseen Pathfinder Tiamat is CE? I mean, we don't know really anything about her besides that dragons fear her, she is embodiment of chaos and she protects her children. Is it the embodiment of chaos part?

2) What is the "Shadows under Sandpoint" campaign of yours I keep hearing about in few of the books?

1) We haven't actually done much with Tiamat at all, because we can't touch the version of her as a five-headed dragon; that portrayal and incarnation is the intellectual property of Wizards of the Coast. We may have said that she was CE early in the game's publication, but today, even that is vague. If we DID say that... it was an attempt to distance from D&D's LE version. But we've pulled back further, and now Dahak is pretty much replaced her role entirely. If you want to use Tiamat in your game, go for it! We can't.

2) Shadows Under Sandpoint is an in-office game I started up years ago for the rest of the editorial/development/design team so that we'd all actually get a chance to play together. The basic storyline was...

Spoiler:
that the PCs were all Sandpoint natives who slowly uncovered a complex plot to harvest surface dwellers as playthings for the intellect devourers of Ilvarandin, who were allied with a powerful ghoul alchemist/priest of Kabriri who lived deep in the Pit east of Sandpoint under Devil's Platter.

That storyline resolved, and the group has moved on to the 2nd stage of the campaign, "Sands of the Scorpion God," which pits them against a cult of Rovagug and a powerful long-dead evil priest who's trying to come back to life... using a modified "Necropolis" adventure as the skeleton.

I'd love to publish "Shadows Under Sandpoint" at some time... but don't have the time to do so yet. In the meantime, you can see bits and pieces of its plot in a few books, like Magnimar and Into the Darklands and Lost Cities.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

"THE" Poog of Zarongel wrote:
Erm, mister Rex-T sir, when be Free RPG Day 2000&15?

Dunno.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

MeanDM wrote:

Morning James,

I'm behind on my reading and just started Valley of the Brain Collectors. I'm getting kind of a Keep on the Borderlands feel. (Valley with caves filled with encounters that get tougher as you go deeper). Is that intentional?

If so, I loved the homage. If not, maybe I just love Keep so much I see it everywhere. :-)

Either way, Valley of the Brain Collectors is great!

It is indeed somewhat intentional. Keep's presentation as a cool sandbox dungeon remains one of my all-time favorites, and it's one I go back to often when designing adventures (or in this case, designing outlines of adventures for other authors to write).

Radiant Oath

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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
Archpaladin Zousha wrote:
I'll ask about kittens, what kittens are cutest in your opinion?
All kittens!

Oh dear, now I have an idea! A Broodmaster summoner who draws upon the power of...INFINIKITTY! No 1st level commoner on all of Golarion would be safe!

What's your favorite caffeinated beverage?


When will the gunslinger's Bolt Ace be properly fixed?
Thread
Another
Yet another.

Sry, but it does look somewhat incomplete.

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